Nozomi
"He what?!" I slammed the brakes at the stop sign.
"He told me he knew about the beads and what they meant and said 'or should I say demon?' I'm sorry!" Natasha blubbered from the back seat. Mashī looked at me with a straight, emotionless face and fiery eyes. He was thinking what I was.
"Fuck this. I need to speak with old man Higurashi." I turned the wheel hard and drove back in the direction we came, yelling at Natasha to tell me where to go.
"It's the house on the left." She whispered as we approached a big field with a small white house plopped in the front with the famous stairs just off to the right.
"Let's go." I barked at both of the kids. I threw my door open and marched to the steps, knocking on the front door.
"Oh hey, Nozomi. I wasn't expecting you. Is Natasha okay? She just ran out of the house." Kagome questioned before seeing Mashī and Natasha walking up behind me.
"Where's your grandfather?" I growled, stepping in the door. She pointed to the living room. I followed the hall to find a harmless looking old man, eating his rice in front of the TV.
"It's very rude to stare." He commented without blinking.
"It's also rude to speak of someone's lineage without permission, saishi." I spat back. My eyes were no doubt-ably glowing deep emerald green in fury. I knew who he was and what his family did in the past.
"So the three of you, then?" He raised an eyebrow.
"What's going on?" Kagome asked as she entered the room. "What lineage are we talking about? Those three then? Grandpa, you're not making sense!"
"I walked in on your friend reading from your journal. there are no secrets. Your friends are demons, Kagome. I don't know how you missed it." Her grandfather was staring at her when realization hit. She gasped and covered her mouth.
"I knew something was different about you!" She whispered openly toward Natasha.
I could see the sadness in my little sister's eyes. "I guess we can't be friends anymore. Can we just go? It'll be less painful." She struggled for the words to come out of her mouth without crying.
"No!" Kagome jumped from her spot and grabbed her hand. "Go where? We can still be friends! You don't have to go."
"Actually.." Takumashī spoke up. "We do. The deal Nozomi made with a miko was we can live in the present undetected with the humans as long as we remain unknown to the humans. It makes me wonder if the miko knew we'd eventually be found."
"But where do you have to go?" 'Mama' asked, taking a second from washing dishes.
"Down your well." I was looking out the window in the direction of the shrine that encased the well.
"Impossible! I've never seen anyone come in or out!" The old man chuckled.
"That's because you weren't even thought of. I wouldn't expect your family talk of us." I smiled. "I came through that well nearly 200 years ago, maybe more. The miko saw the evil that was spreading through the land and knew what was to come. She sent us through the well, trying to save us. We are all the heirs to our clans and she wanted her friends to be able to live. Even if that meant she lost her life protecting us. It's been so long since we've been here that I've lost track of time. We've gone all over the world, seen the beauty of it and learned different languages. I think we've grown tired of the running, hiding who we really were before someone actually caught on to us."
"We made it all the way home before we were found." Natasha giggled. "I guess our time here is done."
Mashī stretched his arms, almost touching the ceiling. "I can't wait to go home."
"It isn't the home we once knew. You only have fragmented memories since you were so young." My hand reached for my locket and clenched it tight. I knew in my heart that we were all the last of our clan. They would have been wiped from existence fighting the evil that was in search of me. "Little ones, don't be surprised if you can't find what you're looking for. We will be out of place and lost."
"I'll go with you." Kagome smiled. I turned to look at her, a smile of gratitude washed over my face. "That's really where I go when I miss school. You can travel with my friends and I. But, I should warn you... A lot has changed since you left. Some of it is still the same. Go home, pack, and meet at the shrine in a hour."